Charles lavington fielder



(No Model.) A

O. L. PIELDER. RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

No. 533,877. Patented Feb. 12, 1895.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES LAVINGTON FIELDER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

, SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 533,877, dated February 12, 1895.

Application filed June 13, 1894. Serial No. 514,468. (No model.) Patented in England May 1 1394;

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES LAVINGTON .FIELDER, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at Rosendale, Gibbon Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, London, inthe county of Surrey, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signaling Apparatus, (for which I have applied for Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 9,501, dated May 15, 1894,) of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in the modeof automatically actuating railwaysignal rods bya combination of electrical and mechanical parts.

The uses for which my actuator is intended are more particularly as follows: In railway signaling it is often desirable, especially in thecase of starting signals, that-a train immediately on or'soon after passing its-permissive signal should itself place that signal to the danger position, independently of the signalman putting back the signal lever in his cabin.' It is also often desirable that the lowering of such signals should be rendered impossible without the permission, usually 'drawal inefiectual.

given electrically, of the signalman in charge of the next section of road, and collaterally, that such electrical permission when established by the signalman in advance should be capable of withdrawal by him whether the first signalman has lowered the signal or not and that such act of withdrawal should replace the signal to the danger position if it has previously been lowered, provided always that the passage of a train past the signal so lowered shall not have rendered such with- A further case of its application is where two or more signal rods are required'to work interdependently, the para ticular signal or signals to be lowered or their sequence of movement being controlled by the electric current or currents acting through one or more actuators. The usual way of achieving the results above mentioned is by various forms of divided rods attached to the signal post in such a way that normally an absolute break in the said rods exists, but which break is capable of being closed by the movement of parts having for their motive force electricity, the entire mechanism moving with the rod when operated in the permissive condition. In my device the rod preserves its connection andcontinnity throughout whether in the normal or the operating condition and the aforesaid mechanism is permanently established on the post, the rod alone traveling when thejact of lowering the signal takes place;

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a sectional B, B B in the form of a linked connection between the upper (C) and the lower (D) portions of the signal rod is introduced, the links may be two or more and may likewise be of equal or unequal length.- The said linked portion B, B 13 at its extremities is attached by ordinary pin joints to the contiguous ends (0 and D) of the aforesaid signal rod, and these ends immediately beyond their junction with the linkedportion pass through sleeves or guides E, E in the inclosing'case A and so direct the true upward and downward motion of themselves, either individually when the linked portion B, 13 B is free to collapse, or in unison when the said linked portion is held rigid. The links themselves, in the case of two only being employed, although it is obvious that an identical principle and actionvcan be observed by increasing the mere number of links, are united bya pin joint at E the said pin in addition carrying a friction roller or pulley F, this pin and its roller being centered out of the true line of thrust in the down rod for the purpose hereinafter described.

The link motion B, B B being preferably constructed offiat metallic links and its cen- ICO to facilitate the travel of the link motion along The pulley F before referred to, extends beyond the edge of the links opposite to the ixed path G, G.

In the normal position a hinged or pivoted locking blade J is suspended and rests vertically by its own gravity against the said pulley F but is free to be removed from its vertical position by the natural outward press- -ure of pulley I owing to the said pulley F being placed out of the trueline of thrust in the signal rod, when the lower portion D of the said signal rod is raised by the pulling of the signal lever in thecabin. The locking blade J thus offering no retaining pressure the link motion B, B B is free to collapse and by its collapsing action prevents the portion I) of the signal rod below the actuator from communicating its motion to the portion 0 above the actuator and consequently renders the signal man powerless to operate the signal arm.

The locking blade J is of such a shape and is so centered that it passes to its hinge P either through the upper portion of the link motion, in which case that portion of the link motion to receive it is made in two parts, or otherwise it may pass in front of or behind the link motion, the result being in either case that a greater degree of gravity is given to the said locking blade toinsure its descent to close contact with pulley F, additional advantages of such an arrangement being that the reduced natural throw or swing of the said locking blade in the outward direction increases the facility with which the magnet and its operating parts hereinafter referred to can be brought to bear upon the said locking blade J, and that the actuating case can be reduced to more economical dimensions.

An electro magnet K is fixed within the case A in such a way that its armature lever L when actuated by the current interposes a distance piece M preferably terminating in small rollers or pulleys N, N, N between the suspended blade J anda fixed guide block Q or the armature lever may itself form the distance piece also similarly provided if desir' able with a small friction roller or rollers coming in contact with the blade J, the pressure of the blade J being in the latter case carried immediately through the armature lever to its supporting pin or hinge O.

Another way of applying the armature lever to the locking blade J is by arranging a roller upon it in such a way that when actuated by the current it will take hold of and restrain the blade from moving on its hinge when the link motion by its tendency to collapse on the signal lever being used presses upon it through the pulley I It is obvious that the character and position of the electro magnet and the precise details of its operating parts are not essential to the prin ciple of action here applied. The circuit, by which such interposition of a distance piece or restraining pulley in connection with the armature lever is attained, is made and broken by various arrangements of electrical connections and instruments as now used for similar purposes, which arrangements are well known to and already in use by signal engineers and as they are outside the limits of this invention, need not be referred to in detail. It will be sufficient to say that:-Normally, the armature lever L being disengaged, see Fig. 1, the distance piece M rests by gravity out of the line of motion of the locking blade J so that the signalman in pulling his lever merely causes the link motion B, B B to collapse as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and bear the said locking blade J outward, the upper portion G of the signal rod and hence the signal arm itself remaining stationary. On the necessary electrical permission being givenand the circuit closed, by whatever arrangements these are carried out, the action of the actuator is thesame.

The electro magnet K operating the armature lever L and its parts M, N in the manner before described locks the suspended guide blade J in its Vertical position and on the lever being pulled the links 13', B B in the down rod are restrained from collapsing and the whole signal rod with its linked joint from the balance lever to the signal arm becomes rigid and ascends guided by the sleeves in the actuator case until the arm is lowered and the links occupy the position shown in Fig. 2. The signal arm remains thus lowered until released to the danger position by one of several occurrences: First, mechanically, by the first signalman reversing his lever in the cabin when the whole rod moves down and the signal arm is consequently replaced. This mechanical lowering and raising of the signal, provided the sanctioning act of the advance signalman remains in force, can of course be repeated indefinitely. Secondly, electrically, by the withdrawal of the sanction by the advance Signalman, and thirdly, also electrically, by a train in passing breaking a contact in connection with the actuator. Fourthly, by any accidental failure of the Wires or of the current. In the three latter instances, where the movement of the arm to the danger position is due to the breaking of the electric circuit, the armature lever L drops by gravity and disengages the distance piece M that previously secured the locking blade J, the downward pressure of the portion 0 of the signal rod act- ICC IIO

ing outwardly through the link roller F in the manner already described forces the released blade J to turn on its pivot P whereby the linked motion B, B B assumes (as shown in Fig. 2) a collapsed condition as the signal arm returns to its normal danger position although the Signalman has not yet replaced his lever to the normal position. The outward pressure of the link pulley against the locking blade J is dependent on the greater or lesser distance (in accordance with well known mechanical principles) the said pulley F is' fixed outside the center line of thrust in the signal rod, and the resultant pressure of the blade'J against the distance or looking piece M actuated by the armature lever L is dependent upon the relative distances apart of the lockin g blades pivot P, the link pulley F and the said distance piece M. By the arrangement of the link pulley F,

.thelocking blade J and the distance piece M,

in the manner shown, the resultant pressure upon the said distance piece M remains at its maximum amount momentarily only, viz: at the initial moment of travel of the link pulley Fin ascending, and it gradually lessens as the said link pulley F reaches its greatest limit of upward travel, at which point the pressure of the locking blade J upon the distance piece M almost disappears and insures the instant disengagement, by reason of its own gravity, of the distance piece M on the severance of the electric current.

Having fully described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,'isy

1. The combination, with .a signal rod,

formed in two parts, and a collapsible link connection having its ends permanently pivoted to the said parts; of apivoted locking blade having a normallyvertical side for the said link connection to slide against, whereby the parts of the'signal red are operatively connected and the link connection is prevented from collapsing, and a locking device normally holding the said locking blade in its vertical position, substantially as set forth.

formed'in two parts, and a collapsible link connection having its ends permanently pivoted to the said parts; of a pivoted locking blade having a normally vertical side for the said link connection to slide against, whereby the parts of the signal red are operatively connected and the link connection is prevented from collapsing; and an electro-magnot having a projecting piece attached to its armature for holding the free end of the said blade stationary, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with a signal rod formedin two parts; of aliuk connection having its ends permanently pivoted to the said parts and provided with a pivot pin arranged out of line with the axis of the rod whereby the said link connection is free to collapse automatically; a roller journaled on the said pivot pin; and a locking blade for the said roller to bear against, thereby normally preventing the collapse of the saidlink connection, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the stationary case provided withguid'esE, and a guide surface G; of a signal rod formed in twoparts sliding in the guides E, and provided with rollers H bearing against the guide surface G; a link connection having its ends pivoted to the two parts of the signal rod and pro vided with an intermediate joint having a pivot pin arranged out of line with the axis of the signal rod-and having a roller F journaled'on the said pin; and a locking blade for the said roller F to bear against, substan tially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The combination of a link motion,,a friction pulley attached thereto, a locking blade on which the said pulley travels, a distance piece restraining said'blade when actuated 'by the electric current through an armature CHARLES mvrreror FIELDER.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM S. CANDZ, [MICHAEL M. MOORE. 

